Unregulated electricity suppliers rate poorly in Ohio

Ohio ranks last out of seven states in a survey of customer satisfaction with unregulated electricity suppliers.

Dan Gearino, The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio ranks last out of seven states in a survey of customer satisfaction with unregulated electricity suppliers.

The J.D. Power and Associates report gives the lowest marks to AEP Energy, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, which is last out of five companies listed in Ohio and lowest of any company in any state surveyed.

Pennsylvania has the most satisfied customers, with a score of 631 points out of 1,000. Ohio was seventh out of seven with 575.

“There is still some work to do in the state of Ohio in improving the retail experience and customer satisfaction,” said John Hazen, senior director of the energy practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

Ohio customers said they do not have enough pricing options and reported a lack of communication from their service providers, the survey found.

About 50 percent of Ohio households get their electricity from an unregulated supplier, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. In contrast, the suppliers serve about 35 percent of households in Pennsylvania. The other states surveyed were Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York.

Most other states do not have this kind of electricity competition. Texas, which also allows competition, is the subject of a separate J.D. Power report.

In central Ohio, more than a dozen companies are vying for customers, with a variety of price plans and solicitation methods.

If a household does not choose a supplier, a regulated utility company automatically provides the service at a state-supervised price.

The survey results are based on responses from customers in 14,800 households, including more than 2,000 in Ohio, obtained in April and May, J.D. Power said. This is the first of what will be an annual report.

DPL Energy Resources, a subsidiary of Dayton Power & Light, had the highest score in Ohio, with 602 points out of 1,000. Next was Dominion Energy Solutions with 584, Duke Energy Retail with 583, FirstEnergy Solutions with 569 and AEP Energy with 555. All five of the companies are unregulated affiliates of utilities that serve parts of Ohio.

Other electricity suppliers, such as Direct Energy and Integrys Energy, were not included because the sample of customers was not large enough, Hazen said.

AEP Energy was formed last year when Columbus-based AEP combined its subsidiary, AEP Retail, with a newly acquired company, BlueStar Energy.

The combined company has existed in its current form only for about a year, which makes it the newest of the five Ohio suppliers in the report.

While AEP Energy did poorly in Ohio, it ranked second out of four companies in Massachusetts with 630 points. It was not listed in any of the other states.

“AEP Energy takes customer satisfaction seriously,” said spokeswoman Tammy Ridout in an email. “ Our business has grown by more than 70 percent in the past year, and we think this exponential growth is one of the best indicators of customer satisfaction. We’ll continue to focus on meeting our customers’ electric supply needs and helping them save money.”